Courting the Fox
by Gryvon
Summary: It was an unspoken tradition among the adults of the village that the unattached should make themselves available to returning warriors as a way of easing the stress of war. There was one particular warrior that Iruka hoped to meet.


The sound of the horn interrupted Iruka mid-sentence. He paused, glancing through the windows at the back of the classroom but there was nothing to see. It was reflex. He could imagine, though, the scene at the front gates as the ANBU and jounin return from the battlefield. Whispers filled the classroom and he could hear similar noise rising from the other rooms along the hall.

Iruka sighed. It was no use trying to teach anymore today. He put his chalk down and waved his students out with a smile. "Go. Off with you, you little hellions." The class cheered and joined the others streaming out into the hall, no doubt headed straight for the gates to welcome their warriors home.

His students' good spirit was infectious. Iruka briefly debated joining the children in watching the warriors stream in. He opted instead to go home and shower. It'd been a busy couple of days and he wanted to look his best for the festival tonight. He set out his best kimono – an expensive white silk kimono with pink cherry blossoms that the Hokage had gifted him when he'd reached Chuunin. Some called it girlish, but Iruka had always had a fondness for cherry blossoms.

He ate a light supper while he waited for his hair to dry. It'd been a while since they'd had a festival. The war had been going for years, but it seemed that Konoha finally had the upper hand. Or at least enough of one to send a few of the boys home from the front lines. It bothered Iruka sometimes, knowing that the kids he taught were graduating only to be sent out to war. He counted the lives lost, looked over the scrolls sent back every month searching for familiar names.

There was one name he always looked for first, a name that had yet to end up on a scroll. Hatake Kakashi. Iruka doubted that Hatake even knew Iruka existed. Hatake had finished school long before Iruka even started. He was so far above Iruka's position that it was like looking up at the sky and admiring one of the stars twinkling too distant to ever reach.

Still, that didn't stop Iruka from twisting his hair up with flowers and pins. He admired himself in the bedroom mirror, smoothing down the front of his kimono. He may not catch Hatake's eye tonight but he was bound to catch someone's. It was an unspoken tradition among the adults of the village that the unattached should make themselves available to returning warriors as a way of easing the stress of war. Iruka smirked at his reflection and tucked away a loose strand of hair. He was no stranger to helping the upper ranks relieve stress. War wasn't for him, and he respected those that fought in his place.

The street outside his apartment building was already starting to fill up with revelers headed towards the festival. Iruka slipped into the crowd, nodding to the parents he knew from years' worth of parent-teacher conferences and smiling at the children eagerly tugging their parents along. He wondered if Naruto would be back with the other warriors or if he was still keeping an eye on the front lines. Maybe Iruka could send a letter with one of the jounin under Naruto's command.

The sun was almost done setting by the time Iruka reached the Academy field. It had been transformed from the training grounds of young ninja to a cluster of booths holding games, food, and other delights. Paper lanterns hung in the air above, suspended by a minimal amount of chakra from the Festival Committee. Iruka could never figure out how they manager to turn the whole field and part of the forest around on such short notice. As the sunlight finally slipped away, the twinkling lantern lights made the area a sight to behold.

Iruka meandered through the stalls, never stopping long at any. The games weren't fun without a partner and he wasn't hungry, at least not yet. The takoyaki and sukiyaki might lure him later in the evening. There was a nice duet being performed at the south end of the field, accompanied by flute and lute. Two jounin were engaged in a juggling contest near the window of Iruka's classroom. He paused to take in each attraction for a moment before moving along, slowly making his way to the forest at the end of the field.

There was a stack of lanterns at the start of the path into the forest. Iruka picked up a red one and imbued it with a small bit of chakra so that it floated above his palm, providing enough glow to see a few steps ahead of him in the forest. Darkness settled around him as he headed deeper into the woods, broken only by the glint of other lanterns off in the distance. Iruka avoided the other lights and wound his way into the woods.

He wasn't afraid. He'd run his students through enough drills to navigate the forest blind. Plus he was still within the wall that surrounded the village, keeping Konoha safe from intruders. He doubted any intruders wanted to be in these woods tonight, not with the number of ANBU and jounin that lurked hidden in the trees.

Iruka followed a bend in the path and stopped as his lantern illuminated a figure leaning against a tree barely an arm's reach ahead. Iruka blinked once and then smiled, glad that the ANBU couldn't hear the way his heart fluttered on recognition.

He bowed. "Hatake-san."

The ANBU lifted the fox mask from his face. Iruka blinked. Kakashi rarely went without anything covering at least part of his face, yet here he was, the scar crossing his eye plain for Iruka to see. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You know me?"

Iruka lowered his eyes to the ground. "Only by reputation."

Movement drew Iruka's eyes back up. The mask fell from Kakashi's fingers as he stepped forward. Pale fingers brushed across Iruka's cheek and he couldn't help but lean into the touch. His eyes drifted closed for a moment before opening again as Kakashi made a low noise in his throat. "I'm afraid I don't know your name."

He licked his lips. He'd dreamed about this day for years. "Umino. Umino Iruka."

Kakashi's thumb ran across Iruka's lips and it was all Iruka could do not to open his mouth and suck on it. Would that seem too forward? Would it scare Kakashi off?

"May I kiss you, Umino Iruka?"

Iruka blinked. He felt his face heat. "Y-yes. Of course."

Kakashi's hand rested against Iruka's chin as he leaned forward. Iruka's eyes closed once more and his moan was swallowed by Kakashi's mouth. A strong arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him forward, flush against Kakashi's uniform. Iruka hesitantly let his hands rest on Kakashi's chest. He so loved a man in uniform.

It took a second for Iruka to open his eyes after Kakashi pulled away from the kiss. Kakashi was smiling, an expression rare on his face – when his face was seen at all. He held out his hand and Iruka took it. The lantern floated after them as Kakashi led them off the path, deeper into the woods.

They came to stop at a small clearing not far from where the woods butted up against the monument to past Hokages. It was too dark to see the faces carved in stone, but Iruka thought that better. He didn't want Sandaime looking down on what he was about to do.

Kakashi pulled Iruka in for another kiss, but this time it was Iruka's turn to disengage first. Kakashi shot him a questioning glance. Iruka answered with a smile and sank to his knees. He was going to have a hell of a time getting dirt and grass stains out of the white fabric, but it was worth it for Kakashi's surprised gasp as Iruka pulled Kakashi's hardening cock out of his pants. Kami, he'd waited for this a long time.

Iruka moaned around Kakashi's cock as he took it into his mouth. It tasted heavenly. Salty and bitter, but the bitterness was offset by the sheer weight of it in his mouth. It filled him in a way he'd never felt before, and the sounds Kakashi made as Iruka swallowed Kakashi all the way down only encouraged him more. Fingers brushed over his hair, obviously searching for purchase but too hesitant to mess up the complex design Iruka had weaved his hair into. He reached up and pulled out the key hairpins, letting the flowers fall from his hair as it all came loose. Kakashi groaned and sank his fingers into Iruka's hair, gripping lightly.

If Iruka could smile, he would, but his mouth was otherwise occupied. He sucked, bobbing his mouth over Kakashi's cock and using every trick he'd learned in anticipation of this moment. He'd had so many fantasies of doing just this and none of them compared to the real thing. They'd lacked the sensations that rooted him in this moment – the smell of grass and dirt, the earth solid beneath his knees, the warmth of Kakashi's flesh in his mouth and the rough fabric of Kakashi's uniform against his palm where he braced himself on Kakashi's hips.

And the sounds. Iruka loved the sounds. Kakashi moaned as Iruka sucked him deep into his mouth, pulling Kakashi's cock far enough down his throat that Iruka's nose brushed Kakashi's pubes. Kakashi's hands clenched and unclenched in Iruka's hair, as if unsure what to do. Iruka reached up and closed his hand over one of Kakashi's, closing Kakashi's hand into a fist just on the right side of painful. Kakashi took the hint.

Kakashi took over a little of the show, his breath becoming less controlled as he guided Iruka's mouth into the rhythm that he wanted. Iruka whimpered around Kakashi's cock. He was hard but he didn't even consider reaching for himself. His time was later. It was all about Kakashi now.

A burst of saltiness coated Iruka's tongue and he shivered, eager to feel Kakashi come in his mouth.

"Ah. Can I..." Kakashi's voice trailed off with a groan as Iruka swirled his tongue around Kakashi's head.

Iruka pulled off for just a moment, missing the feel of Kakashi's cock in his mouth the moment it left. "Yes," he whispered, and then dived back in. It didn't matter what Kakashi wanted. The answer would always be yes.

He didn't have long to wait, not that it wasn't hard to guess what Kakashi wanted. Kakashi's hands tightened in Iruka's hair, holding his head in place as Kakashi spasmed. Seed filled Iruka's mouth and he swallowed it down wantonly. A little bit of it dribbled down his chin and he wiped it away with a finger before sucking that too into his mouth.

Iruka leaned back slowly, giving Kakashi time to adjust to the change in heat around his cock as Iruka's warm mouth pulled away. Iruka looked up and smiled. Kakashi's head was thrown back against the tree, his eyes staring unseeing at the branches crisscrossing above them. Pleasure washed over Iruka, almost better than if he had orgasmed as well. He tucked Kakashi back into his pants and then stood slowly. As reluctant as he was, he should go. It didn't do well to linger on things he couldn't have.

He started to turn, but was stopped by a hard grip on his arm. Iruka blinked and then his back was against the tree where Kakashi had just been. Warm breath ghosted over Iruka's neck.

"You don't think I'm giving you up just yet, do you, Iruka?"

Iruka shivered and closed his eyes, a thrill running through him at hearing Kakashi say his name in a wrecked voice. "I-"

Kakashi's lips closed over his before he could finish his response and the words he had planned flew away as Kakashi's tongue filled his mouth. Kakashi shifted. Something fell and then there was a hand sliding into the folds of his kimono. Iruka gasped as a naked hand pulled down his underwear just enough for Iruka's neglected cock to spring free. Kakashi's knee pressed between Iruka's legs, forcing them apart as Kakashi's hand grabbed him.

Kakashi's mouth moved and Iruka closed his eyes, blushing at the sounds he made without Kakashi mouth there to stifle them. His voice came out in breathless cries and high-pitched moans. Kakashi's lips found purchase against Iruka's neck, kissing a line down his throat and then back up again to suck at a spot just below his ear. He gasped and nearly came on the spot. Kakashi's hand tightened around his cock, stroking him rough and firm.

Iruka couldn't help the way his body curled into Kakashi's. He panted against Kakashi's shoulder, hands gripping Kakashi's vest. He wouldn't last. He couldn't. His kimono fell open as Kakashi tugged the obi free and then Kakashi's other hand was moving, gripping the globes of Iruka's ass before pressing between them. Two fingers pressed against Iruka's entrance – a promise – and that was all Iruka needed to come apart in Kakashi's hands.

He gasped and shivered, held upright only by Kakashi's grip. It seemed to take forever to get his breathing under control. He wanted to linger. He shouldn't.

Kakashi's grip wouldn't let him pull away. "I have a confession to make," Kakashi said.

Iruka made a questioning noise against Kakashi's throat.

"I may not have known your name, but I knew who you were. You're in love with me."

Iruka froze. Before humiliation could creep its way through his veins, Kakashi was pulling him close, hugging him tight against Kakashi's body.

Wet lips pressed below his ear and then Kakashi's voice came low and rough in his ear. "I want to take you home with me. I want you to be mine."

What choice did Iruka have but to nod. It felt like he was in a dream.

Kakashi's lips pressed against his neck once more and then the forest disappeared as Kakashi teleported them away.


End file.
